Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin defended his management control of the group Friday from an attack by his disgruntled brother despite being absent from a shareholders' meeting. In another important shareholders' meeting the same day, LG Group appointed heir-apparent Koo Kwang-mo as its new chief.As the two big events ended without a surprise, both groups are expected to pursue their business goals as planned, with Lotte consolidating Shin's control and LG embracing fresh leadership. Lotte said the shareholders of Japan-based Lotte Holdings rejected an item stripping Shin of the chairmanship during a shareholders' meeting in Tokyo. The item was tabled by his older brother Shin Dong-ju, a former vice chairman of Lotte Holdings, who has already been defeated in managerial disputes him several times. The meeting, however, garnered keen attention as Shin Dong-bin could not attend as a request for bail was rejected.Lotte Holdings is the de-facto holding firm of the Korean-Japanese conglomerate. Along with its control of Lotte companies in Japan, Lotte Holdings owns Hotel Lotte and can affect Lotte Corp., the holding firm for businesses in Korea, through stakes held it its affiliates. Lotte Holdings said it was briefed about Lotte's Korean business by executives from Korea who attended the meeting instead of Dong-bin and the item failed to get the agreement of more than half of voting rights exercised. Shareholders favorable to Shin Dong-ju reached 29.7 percent; but Shin Dong-bin -- who has a 4 percent stake in Lotte Holdings -- won the approval from the company's board and employee shareholders, whose combined stake stands at 48 percent. Shin Dong-ju also failed to win a seat on the board. Industry watchers say Lotte's senior management is showing trust in their chairman. "Lotte Korea is relieved over Lotte Japan shareholders' continued support for Shin and the current management, even though Shin is currently absent," a Lotte Corp. official said. "We hope lingering difficulties will be settled just as fast to prevent further instability.""Also, former Vice Chairman Shin should stop hurting Lotte's corporate value by causing unnecessary controversies and unnerving Lotte employees."

LG's new leadership

LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo

LG Corp., the holding company of LG Group, held a shareholders' meeting to confirm Koo, son of the late former Chairman Koo Bon-moo, as its new chairman and co-representative director. The holding firm said the group will keep its current holding firm structure, and allow its affiliates to continue to be run by their respective CEOs."I will inherit LG's philosophy of creating customer value, respecting humanity and operating righteously," Koo, 40, said in a statement. "While keeping those values, I will do my best to build long-term growth foundations for the group,"The young leader's remarks are interpreted to mean his focus will be on exploring new revenue sources for the group. LG Corp. Vice Chairman Ha Hyun-hwoi also echoed that Koo will "play a pivotal role for LG to have stable growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution." Three industries that LG eyes under Koo's leadership are expected to be digital signs, electric automobile parts and robots. Before becoming chairman, the Rochester Institute of Technology graduate headed LG Electronics' information display unit, which plays a key role in LG's digital signs business. In February, he attended the 2018 Integrated Systems Europe show in the Netherlands and showcased transparent OLED displays. The group has already made a huge investment in auto parts. In April LG acquired ZKW, an Austria-based headlamp manufacturer, for 1 trillion won ($897.5 million), in what appeared to be an effort to diversify its business portfolio.Earlier this month, LG Electronics invested $3 million into the U.S. company Bossa Nova Robotics, in its latest extend to push into robotics.LG Corp. said Koo has built his reputation as a pragmatic person, who pursues a smooth process in decision making to actual practice, and highly evaluates cooperation with external parties.